Guess the thermal imager didn't lie this time. :-DGood one there. Did you get the queen?

BTW, I recall you mentioning this before in another thread, the thermal imager, what type of structure does it not work on?Brick? Stucco? ...?

Jack, I didn't see the queen, but when I had all the comb removed there was about 3 lbs of bees still in the cavity and I just kept scooping them up in my hand and putting them in the hive I set up on the ladder. And she must of been in one of the scoops cause they all moved into the hive by nightfall.

I keep asking myself doing these cutouts "now how would old eagleyes find this queen", but invariably I loose patience and start thinking about how good a cold beer and a cigar sounds and just start scooping them in to get the job done. (knock on wood, the 7 cutouts and 8 swarm catches this year are all queen-right. I did have one swarm abscond.)

As far as the thermal imager, in my experiance it doesn't work well dealing with brick, stone, traditional stucco, vinyl siding, and surfaces that are wet, or are already hot from being heated by the sun. And, because the bees don't keep honey comb warm, the outside of the colonies don't show up well. It's like JP said last week (paraphrasing) "Heat detection guns and Thermal imagers only show you the minimum extent of the colony".

Very cool, thanks for posting. Have you gone after the big hive in the crawlspace yet?

No Drew, I'll get to it in about 3 or 4 weeks. The old guys not in a hurry (says they have been there for years) and I figure it will be good and cool down there when we hit a real hot spell.

I've about run out of steam for removals this year and it's flat getting hot out, I'm thinking I'll quit taking any new jobs.

Went on a monster swarm call this evening only to get there in time to watch them fly off. (guy sent me a picture and I was so excited about the size of it I told him I would come get them for free :whip:, jinxed myself)

I love that imaging stuff! Would have saved me a couple of hours today!

Scott

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